An Analytical Study of Poverty, Consumption and Asset Inequalities in South Asia
| Date | 01 October 2013 |
| Author | M. Gopinath Reddy,M. Prasada Rao |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020881717713598 |
| Published date | 01 October 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
An Analytical Study
of Poverty, Consumption
and Asset Inequalities
in South Asia:
A Case Study of India
M. Prasada Rao1
M. Gopinath Reddy2
Abstract
This article examines the Indian situation across the States and social category
wise including STs, SCs, OBCs, Others and all groups considering some feasible
indicators used in terms of asset inequalities such as land ownership, operational
holdings, value of assets, average asset value, average amount of debt and inci-
dence of indebtedness, employment (worker population ratio of various social
groups), poverty trends and consumption inequalities. Data on different social
groups are gathered from NSS and other published sources. It analyses increasing
inequalities-which is a point of growing concern in the South Asian region
particularly in India. In India, these social groups are adversely affected by social
or economic factors that limit their abilities and opportunities available to them.
Keywords
Social Groups, feasible conditions, poverty trends, consumption inequalities,
South Asian region, social and economic factors, benefits of development,
growing inequalities
Introduction
Despite South Asia’s remarkable economic progress over the last decade, social
and economic inequalities remain a problem in the region. Inequality in access to
basic social services such as education and health that worsen income inequality
Article
International Studies
50(4) 343–365
2017 Jawaharlal Nehru University
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0020881717713598
http://isq.sagepub.com
1 Professor, Department of Economics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
2 Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies(CESS), N.O.Campus, Begumpet, Telangana
State, India.
Corresponding author:
M. Prasada Rao, Professor, Department of Economics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh-530003, India.
E-mail: mecharlapr@yahoo.com
344 International Studies 50(4)
also persists. Raising inequality is an emerging challenge for South Asia. About a
third of developing South Asia economies, including India, have shown worsen-
ing ‘Gini Coefficients’ in recent years.
Thus, it is necessary to look into various aspects of progress/development of
different social groups,1 including Scheduled Tribes (STs), Scheduled Castes
(SCs), Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Others (OT; General), and all groups
through feasible indicators over the period in India. It is necessary to know how
much STs are distanced from SCs and other social groups. The indicators used for
the analysis of the study are: (a) assets (land ownership), operational holdings
(OH), value of assets, average asset value, average debt and incidence of indebt-
edness; (b) employment (worker population ratio [WPRs] of various social
groups); and (c) consumption and poverty (changes in consumption pattern among
social groups) poverty profile, poverty rates in all-India by social group. However,
the analysis confines itself to compare the status of STs with those of SCs, OBCs,
OTs and all social groups together. In Census, the data on SC and ST classification
has been there, but the NSS (National Sample Survey) reports have adopted to
give social group classification only in the recent rounds of NSS.
Objective and Method
The objective of our article is to look at Indian situation (across the states and
social category wise) in terms of: (a) the asset inequalities; (b) poverty trends;
and (c) to further analyse consumption inequalities. The data is being presented
in simple bi-variate tables and percentages, graphs and averages wherever
necessary.
Inequalities in Asset Position
Inequalities in Land Ownership
There are two types in land distribution pattern, mainly household ownership
holding (HOH) and operational holdings (OH). In this part, we deal with HOH,
whose data are available decennially, but the data related to social groups is avail-
able in 59th round only in full scale for 2003. Thus, we analyse the data for 2003
among ST, SC, OBC and OTs among all social groups. Table 1 and Figures 1, 2
and 3 give details.
In 2003, among the estimated number of households in India, both for
rural and urban areas together, the share of STs ‘form’ 8.5 per cent, but their
ownership of land is 10.7 per cent of the total agricultural land. The share of
ownership is higher than their share of households, by 2 percentage points. But
the share of ownership of area (8.8 per cent) among SCs is not even half of their
share of households (19.8 per cent). Among OBCs, the share of land ownership
(43.1 per cent) is higher (by 3 percentage points) than the share of households.
But among others, the former share is higher by more than 5 percentage points.
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